Wheelchair theft, hit and run and accident keep police busy

A wheelchair theft, a hit and run and an accident kept Pratt Police busy.

Gale Rose

A wheelchair was the focus of an extensive search in Pratt Thursday after it was stolen from a disabled man who was mowing for the Pratt Parks Department.

Jeremy Briggeman was mowing the Champa Street Park Thursday, Aug. 3 when he noticed his wheelchair was missing. The wheelchair was found about two hours after it was stolen.

Briggeman has a physical disability and uses a golf cart to get from place to place. He pulls a trailer that has his mowing equipment and he uses a fold up wheelchair to get from the cart to the trailer.

The Park's Department hires Briggeman to mow parks and he was busy mowing Champa Street Park, the one with the big water tower on the north part of town, when he noticed his wheelchair was missing about 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

City police combed the area looking for the wheelchair, said Police Sgt. Ed Gimpel.

Gimpel said he combed the alleyways and side streets thinking that some child or children had take the wheelchair to go joy riding. But after an extensive search of streets in the area, the wheelchair could not be found.

Then, around 3:30 p.m., the police department got a call from a resident in the area who said the wheelchair was sitting on a neighbor's porch. The police want to the house and asked the homeowner about the wheelchair. The homeowner was surprised and had no idea the wheelchair was on his porch and had no idea who put it there, Gimpel said.

The wheelchair was returned to Briggeman and the police department continues to investigate the incident.

Police are also investigating a non-injury accident Thursday involving a hit and run vehicle vs bicycle accident. Around 6:50 p.m. in the 100 Block of East Blane between North Main and North Ninnescah, Dan McAnarny was riding a bicycle and claims a truck hit him. McAnarny was alone on the bike and was not injured, Gimpel said.

At this time, Pratt Police are investigating the incident and are still gathering information, Gimpel said.

Another non-injury accident occurred Aug. 2 when 28-year-old Dustin Kemp was west bound in the 1200 block of East Sixth in a 2006 BMW 320 I when he went through a safety barricade and crashed into a hole in the street where repairs were underway on a water line. Kemp was not injured in the accident that was reported at 8:58 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2.